


An Opening Thought

by CrookTheKing



Series: Bringing the Faithful to their Knees [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Earthborn (Mass Effect), Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Rivalry, Series, Slow Burn, Sole Survivor (Mass Effect), they’re gay fellas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-06 15:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11603076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookTheKing/pseuds/CrookTheKing
Summary: Miranda Lawson knows what the act of creation feels like. Building something from nothing and bringing it into this world is an ecstatic feeling. She happen to be an artist; skilled in the art of piecing together what once made a person. Art no matter the subject matter is something an artist should be proud of. So why is the first feeling towards Shepard is to wrap her hands around her throat and throttle her?





	An Opening Thought

Miranda Lawson was the femme fatale of cerberus. She was cold, calculating, surgically decisive, incredibly charismatic, and overwhelmingly seductive. She was genetically perfect. The jack of all trades, if you will. But that would suggest that Miranda was a master of none. In reality she utilized every one of her capabilities with excellence. Seduction, murder, even gathering intel. It was all the same. The Illusive Man knew this, and that’s why she headed the Lazarus Cell. Something people fail to recognize is that she isn’t entirely perfect. Maybe even a little stubborn when it came to what she thought was best.

And when Miranda thought something, she would stand by it. An idea is just as strong as the person standing beside it. She’d think. Shepard was that kind of person, according to the Illusive Man. The council had fought against her when it came to the reapers and Saren but Shepard stood behind her visions. Hell, she committed mutiny and saved the citadel from an indoctrinated turian spectre’s antics. Now she was dead, and Miranda had to bring her back.

Her work for Cerberus would be challenging, to say the least. The easiest part was put to bed; retrieving Shepard’s body with the help of Liara T’Soni and a drell named Feron. And now the hardest part of the project would be making sure she could rejuvenate Shepard’s nearly unsalvageable nervous system; to have Shepard be able to feel, walk, talk, or hold a gun. Her body was charred upon reentry of the planet site she had landed on. To restore what Shepard once was would be difficult for any normal person. Miranda, however, was the perfect one for the job.

The worst part of the project, she thought, would be getting everything up and running again. The successful resurrection of organic life as complex as a sentient being, like a human, is close to impossible… but that wasn’t the worst part. The diagnostics, the blood works, the numbers, and the constant management was the worst of the labor. Doing the impossible would be easy if she could have an hour to herself to sleep without the constant nagging of Shepard’s well being.

Miranda was a patient woman but commander Shepard was getting on her nerves.

Miranda sat in her office alongside her assistant Wilson. She scanned the datapad with Wilson who was fidgeting in the seat across the room from her.

“Run the numbers again.” She said after a while.

Wilson sighed. “We’ve ran it a million times, Miranda.”

“And we’ll do it another million times, _Wilson_.” She laid the data pad down on her desk. “I’m not signing off on a L4n biotic implant unless we’re able to see the mental effects it has on Shepard.”

Wilson turned away with a judgemental sneer forming across his face. “I still don’t understand the Illusive Man’s concern over Shepard’s personality.” He turned in his office chair and back into his desk work. “Bringing the body back is hard enough as it is.”

Miranda remained quiet. As much as she didn’t like to admit, she agreed with her assistant. All we needed was the body. It was all we needed to get the attention of certain people and organizations. The personality and personal morals of one woman shouldn’t have played to deeply in decisions that affected the whole galaxy, if someone wanted Miranda’s opinion.

She leaned back in her chair in contemplation. _And what if her ideals conflict with Cerberus?_

She found herself in the Lazarus Cell’s main facility’s communications room not soon after her first doubts. It was always a question where Shepard’s loyalties would stand. People described her as erratic yet distant. Calculating yet compassionate at times. Soon Miranda was face to face with the Illusive Man about the matter of a control chip.

“Shepard is an unknown entity,” The Illusive Man drawled after a slow drag of his cigarette. The man always had an unhealthy amount of them around. Come to think of it, Miranda couldn’t imagine the Illusive Man without a cigarette in his left hand. “She is a mastermind on the battlefield. Powerful and unrelenting. A symbol for humanity to all the races.”

He took another drag. He blew the smoke through the corner of his mouth. “But I do see your concerns, Miranda. The commander isn’t very… forthcoming in political and social spheres.”

He obviously meant Shepard’s encounter with a reporter in the beginning of Saren’s investigation. The encounter had left her on galactic headlines for clocking the reporter in the mouth.

“But the galaxy doesn’t need another politician or suit. It needs a symbol. People can stand behind a symbol. Politicians?” He flicked cigarette ash onto the tray flanking his side. “They’re easily out-maneuvered. Easily replaceable. Symbols aren’t.”

“But Shepard’s an alliance marine.” She blurted out. Her irritation was beginning to grow. “A control chip wouldn’t alter Shepard’s personality-”

“We don’t know that.” The Illusive Man interrupted.

It wasn’t the fact that Shepard was a soldier that provoked her caution. Jacob Taylor was an alliance soldier and he made a great operative when it came to Cerberus’s endeavors. It was the fact that she was an Akuze veteran that made her question Shepard’s loyalties. Miranda and most of the Lazarus Cell had known about Shepard’s past, just like much of the galaxy. How could she work with the same people who she believed sicced thresher maws on her entire unit?

“And what about Akuze?” She crossed her arms. “What will we tell Shepard?”

“That the fate of the galaxy is more important than revenge fantasies. She can’t let herself be controlled by her past.”

“Then you know about Corporal Toombs then?” A hint of surprise marked Miranda’s tone. “Was Akuze Cerberus’s doing?”

The Illusive Man looked her dead in the eyes, and with a stern voice he spoke: “No.”

She opened her mouth to protest but closed it once again. She looked off to the side. Miranda knew this wasn’t something she could argue anymore. And she wasn’t going to go against the Illusive Man’s wishes. She left the communications room with a strong gaze and demeanor that made other cerberus personnel duck their heads.

***

Once again, Miranda found herself in her office. Wilson had left after a few hours of diagnostics and simulations. Miranda tapped her fingernails against her desk in the late hours of the night. Half of the medical staff and scientists had retired to their quarters on the far side of the station but Miranda found comfort in her work. _No rest for the wicked, as they say._

She examined report after report and update after update on Shepard’s condition. Organic reconstruction wasn’t working as well as she thought. There weren’t significant improvements in Shepard’s condition even after six months. She shut off her work terminal before leaning back to rub her temples. It was probably best for her to get some rest as well. She had two sleepless nights back to back. Her eyes watered and she felt the lulling of sleep take over.

Eventually she resigned to go to bed. She moved her way across facility to a sleekly-designed minimalist cabin. She slipped out of her tight-fitting cerberus uniform and drifted lazily into the bathroom. Her reflection in the bathroom mirror spoke volumes of how she treated herself the past few days. Her hair was more tousled than usual, and her eyes were starting to look baggy. Miranda examined her eyes closer. Bloodshot and clouded with exhaustion.

She may have been pushing it lately with the Lazarus project, but this wasn’t an ordinary project. Miranda didn’t like to admit it but her doubts about Shepard were only growing. _Was the fate of the galaxy really depending on one person? And was Shephard them?_ It was almost as if the Illusive Man was disregarding Shepard as a person… which reminded Miranda of her father. How controlling and manipulative he was. Miranda’s father would do anything to secure a future.

She dipped her hands in the cool water of the sink and splashed her face.

However, Miranda recognized that the Illusive Man and her father were different. Very different. Her father was selfish. He wanted a dynasty. The Illusive Man, however, was looking out for humanity, unlike much of the galaxy. It didn’t matter what Shepard wanted. There were greater stakes than her past and feelings.

 _I’m starting to sound like him._ She thought. The Illusive Man was rubbing off on her a little.

She padded to her bed and fell with little grace. Sleep greeted her with ease...

For a moment.

She was restless. Her gaze fixated on the ceiling and her thoughts always coming back to Shepard.

 _I’m too focused. I need to rest._ She thought. It almost sounded like she was commanding herself to go back to sleep. But that didn’t seem to work, obviously. Suddenly, like most late night curiosities, she had to sate it. She rose from bed and slipped into her uniform again and exited her room, making her way across the facility.

Eventually, she was at Shepard’s preservation den. A big space reserved for Shepard’s body, accompanied by an observation deck and loads of medical equipment. She closed the door behind her before approaching the stasis pod. She looked at the charred body. Most of it had been restored cosmetically but she looked different from how Shepard used to look. Shepard in the vids was tall with a hardened gaze. Probably cultivated by years of military experience.

 _And Akuze._ Miranda thought to herself. She made her way closer. Now her gaze was lifeless, her eyelids half open and glazed over. Miranda noticed that Shepard’s old face used to be marked by a scar on the left side of her chin but it had disappeared at this point. Miranda tried her best to restore Shepard just the way she was, but she could notice the minor changes. Shepard was more…

_Perfect..._

Just like her.

Miranda shook her thoughts away before narrowing her eyes again with a sudden resolved look.

She touched the glass; collecting her thoughts. Then, she spoke. "No one told you when to start running, Shepard. But when they did you gave them more than a sprint. When it came to finding Saren, you gave it your all. And then they just put you aside at their whim because they didn't like hearing about the truth of the Reapers. I'm not sure Humanity, or anyone for that matter, deserves you...” Miranda trailed off as she lifted her hand slowly from the stasis pod. “...but you're all we have standing between our salvation or destruction." Her eyes flickered across the body that was once, and would become again, Commander Shepard.

“You better be the commander we need.”

She wouldn't let her be some lost cause.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saw that Miranda Lawson was supposed to be bisexual... Why Bioware removed it I have no clue, they were probably we're too scared :(... Anyway, this is was my first fanfic and I hope you enjoyed! Expect future chapters :-)
> 
> Also quick note: the mature rating is just in case I decide to do anything that may be violent in nature


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